Box spring



Dec. 15, 1970 F. A. ClAMPA ET AL Q 3,546,723

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by W? with ways United States Patent 3,546,723 BOX SPRING Fred A. Ciampa, Angelo Serafini, and Louis Mazzarella, Boston, Mass., assignors to Standard Box Spring (30., East Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 7, 1968, Ser. No. 735,453 Int. Cl. A47c 23/02 US. Cl. -247 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A box spring having a wood bottom frame with cross bars and a spring assembly made up of C-shaped and saddle-shaped springs. The saddle-shaped springs have spaced flat bottom legs, which are attached to adjacent cross bars of the frame, pairs of side legs converging upward from the ends of the bottom legs, and top legs, at right angles to the bottom legs, connecting the upper ends of the side legs tOgether. The springs used around the border of the assembly each consists of spaced C-shaped portions with a top leg connecting their upper ends. A wire mat consisting of spaced longitudinal and transverse wires is laid over the springs and the top legs are secured to the longitudinal wires.

This invention relates to box springs of the type having a rigid bottom frame, usually made of wood, and a spring assembly mounted on the frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A common type of box spring consists of a wood bottom frame having border members and cross bars, and a number of helical coils mounted in rows on the cross bars. The tops of the coils are connected together in various ways. The stiffness or firmness of the spring assembly depends principally on the size of the wire used in the coils, so that a stiff spring box spring of this type is heavier and more expensive than a soft spring. Furthermore, coil springs have very little resistance to sidesway.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a box spring assembly which can be made of relatively light gage wire, and is nevertheless very firm. Another object to provide a spring structure which is simple to manufacture and assemble, which has a minimum of sidesway, and which can readily be made stiffer around the border than in the intermediate regions. Other objects, advantages, and novel features will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings illustrating the invention:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a box spring constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1, partly broken away to show the saddle springs and frame;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the saddle springs;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the C-shaped springs used at the border of the box spring; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-section similar to FIG. 3 illustrating a modification of the intermediate spring structure.

The bottom frame of the spring, generally indicated by the numeral 10, is made of wood in the customary manner and has side members 11, end members 12 and spaced cross-bars 13. The top mat, generally indicated by the numeral 14, consists of a set of spaced longitudinal wires 15, a set of spaced transverse wires 16, and a border wire 3,546,723 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 17. The longitudinal and transverse wires are welded together at their intersections, and their ends are welded to the border wire. The top mat is supported around the border of the assembly by a number of C-shaped springs 18, and in the intermediate region by a number of saddle springs 19.

As shown in FIG. 5, a typical border spring 18, has spaced C-shaped end portions each having a bottom leg 18a, and a curved portion 18b connecting the bottom leg to an upwardly sloping leg 18c. The upper ends of legs are connected by a top leg 18d disposed at right angles to the bottom legs. The bottom legs have inturned end portions 18f and are fastened to the border members, for example, member 11 of the bottom frame by staples 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, a typical saddle spring 19 has spaced end portions each having a bottom leg 19a, and curved portions 19b and connecting the ends of the bottom leg to upwardly sloping converging legs 19d and 19e respectively. The upper ends of legs 19d are connected together by a top leg 19 and the upper ends of legs 19e are connected together by a top leg 19g. The top legs 19e are parallel and are spaced from each other and lie at right angles to the bottom legs. The bottom legs 19a are fastened to cross-bars 13 of the bottom frame by staples 21.

As best seen in FIG. 1, the top legs 19 and 19g of the saddle springs are spaced to correspond to the spacing between adjacent longitudinal wires 15 of the mat 14 and are secured to these wires by clips 22. Adjacent saddle springs are mounted on a cross-bar 13 in spaced position. As here shown, the top leg 19) of one spring is attached to a wire 15, three wire spaces away from the wire to which the top leg 19g of the next spring on the left is attached. At the side of the spring assembly, a C-spring 18 has its top leg 18d attached to the border wire 17. The nearest saddle spring is placed so that its curved portions 190 overlap the curved portions 18!) of the C-spring. It is understood that the arrangement of springs along the opposite side of the assembly is similar, with the C-spring reversed and its curved portion 18b overlapping the curved portion 19b of the nearest saddle spring.

The spring assembly has a number of transverse rows of saddlesprings corresponding to the number of pairs of cross-bars in the bottom frame. The ends of the assembly are supported by a row of C-springs disposed at right angles to those at the side, with their bottom legs stapled to the end members 12 of the bottom frame and their top legs 18d fastened to the border wire of the mat.

The spring assembly shown in FIG. 6 is made up entirely of C-springs 18. The springs around the border are arranged in the same manner as in the assembly shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. In the intermediate part of the assembly the saddle springs are replaced by pairs of C-springs arranged face to face, with their bottom legs 18a stapled to cross bars 13 in such a position that their top legs 18d are spaced apart by the distance between a pair of top wires 15. The top legs are secured to the top wires by clips. When thus assembled, the pairs of C-springs function in the same way as the saddle springs.

The spring assembly here disclosed is considerably stiffer than a coil spring assembly made of wire of the same gage. A stiff box spring can thus be made, which is relatively lighter in weight, and less expensive than a comparable coil type of box spring. The border can readily be made stiffer than the intermediate portion. Sidesway is eliminated in this construction, because the saddle and C-springs, are themselves highly resistant to sideward movement and furthermore, they are rigidly tied together by the top mat. The springs can be easily assembled to the frame and to the mat.

It is understood that the box spring assembly may be made in various sizes for beds and other items of furniture, and may be covered or upholstered.

What is claimed is:

1. A box spring comprising: a bottom frame having a borders; a number of springs, each spring having bottom legs, a spaced pair of upwardly sloping legs, curved portions connecting said bottom legs to said upwardly sloping legs, and a top leg connecting said upwardly sloping legs together, said bottom legs being attached to said frame; and a top mat composed of sets of spaced transverse and longitudinal wires welded together at their intersections, said top mat further including a border wire welded to said transverse and longitudinal wires; certain of said springs disposed along the border of the frame having their top legs attached to said border wire, the remaining springs having their top legs attached to said mat of longitudinal and transverse wires.

2. A box spring as described in claim 1, said frame having cross-bars to which said bottom legs are attached.

3. A box spring as described in claim 1, said springs being disposed in border rows and intermediate rows, the springs in the border rows having inturned end portions on said bottom legs.

4. A box spring as described in claim 1, said springs being disposed in border rows and intermediate rows, the springs in said intermediate rows having two pairs of upwardly sloping converging legs and two top legs, one connecting each pair together.

5. A box spring as described in claim 1, said spring being disposed in rows, and their upwardly sloping legs sloping in opposite directions in adjoining rows.-

6. A box spring as described as in claim 1, in which the curved portions of the springs along the border overlap the curved portions of adjacent ones of said remaining springs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 723,874 3/1903 Howell "a 5247 2,008,670 7/1935 Lee 5247 X 2,024,307 12/1935 Rosenfeld 5255 X 2,494,432 1/ 1950 Elder 5247 2,611,138 9/1952 Piliero 5247 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 267103 

